Martin Currie Ltd. Acquires Shares of 114,033 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Martin Currie Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 114,033 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $66,767,000. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.5% of Martin Currie Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $960,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VeraBank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $576.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,103,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,265,834. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $655.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $609.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,552,673.10. The trade was a 2.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 584,410 shares of company stock valued at $386,031,454. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on META. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $718.55.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.